mscir

I have a 2001 Civic Ex with 110k mi. I want to replace the timing belt, tensioner, water pump, and transmission oil. I've done head gaskets, break jobs, clutch replacements, and tuneups on older vehicles, so I'm confident that I can do this job if I have a good manual and buy any tools I need, e.g. a torque wrench. What manual is recommended, I would like exact instructions for my year and engine, pictures are helpful, and torque spec's.

Also, there are a lot of timing belt kits on ebay, are any of them worth buying? Or does anyone have a source they recommend?

Thanks,
Mike

mikey1

timing belt "kits" will cost you more money in the long run after they fail and you bend valves, buy honda OEM parts,

there is a good guide here on this site if you search

ezone

Do you care about your engine not bending valves?

Casey Shovey

I dont think you necessarily have to get oem theres decent kits online i just got one its aisin water pump and mituboshi belt with seals but im gonna get a better tensioner probably oem

mscir

I found this on the autohausaz site, I'm not familiar with Aisin, does "Aisin OEM" mean these are OEM parts?

TKH003 - Aisin OEM - Timing Belt Kit with Water Pump
http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/TKH003

Any comment on a good manual for this job?

Also how do people lock the harmonic balancer in place while they remove the nut holding it to the crank?

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

I used the factory manual combined with the diy here for things the manual does not cover

Aisin is one of OEM suppliers

mscir

Great, there are some good prices on the web sites this group collected.

Thanks!
Mike

I can't reply to mikey1's post because the yotube video expands and covers the reply textarea. Any chance you can remove the video? I've seen that one.

What do you think of using the starter to loosen the bolt? The starter applies torque to the ring gear which spins the flywheel, which spins the crankshaft. So as long as the car doesn't fire the journals should get damaged. What do you think?

mikey1

Aisin are decent parts, they make parts for toyota i believe, but i would go factory OEM on the tensioner,

there is a special tool you need to buy to hold the crank while you loosen the bolt, that bolt can be a pain, i use an 18 inch breaker bar with a 6 foot steel pipe over it......

Honda Crank Bolt & Harmonic Balancer Removal DIY - YouTube
ht....tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icj0j3LH9L4

Sea Bass

I recently did a timing belt change on my car. The DIY found on this site was basically all I needed. I printed it out (all 30-something pages or whatever it was) and kept it handy during the whole process. As a back-up I kept my Chilton's manual nearby but I didn't need it much.

One tool I would buy that isn't explicitly mentioned in the DIY is an appropriate-sized cheater bar for the crank pulley bolt. I spent about $13 at Lowe's and got a 12 foot galvanized pipe to slide over my breaker bar. I got the crank bolt in one try. ONE.

mscir

Thanks Sea Bass, I'll search for the procedure on this site and print it out exactly as you say.

What do you think of the procedure some guys use - mount a socket and breaker bar on the crank pulley bolt and then just touch the starter a few times to break it loose?

ezone

You cannot do that on this engine. Engine spins the wrong direction.

mscir

Thanks again!

bsmiley

I bought a craftsman 1/2 19v impact. Removed crank bolt right away. Was a great excuse to add it to my tool collection

mscir

That's a great idea. Thanks.

ezone

Check if youtube link is no longer embedded in that post for you now

mscir

You nailed it, I can see the page again! Thanks!

bsmiley

This one includes wiring diagrams.
2001 Honda Civic Repair CIVIC SEDAN:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzK...ew?usp=sharing

The battery impact I bought:

mscir

Nice! Sears is selling them for $90! Did you use this to retorque the bolt, and if so, how did you avoid overtorquing it?
The link to the manual may be old, "Sorry, the file you have requested does not exist."

bsmiley

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bz...WxhNkV6aWxTeFU

mscir

Very thorough manual with great illustrated step by step instructions, thank you!

S14

This is the tool I used on my 240 to hold my harmonic balancer. Also worked well with my wife's 2001 civic.
Not sure if you can get it anywhere but the snap on truck but it's the best tool I have ever had.






And this.

cheesy

I did my timing belt a year ago with nothing more than an iPad and YouTube. Went very smooth.

Did the head gasket disassembly the same way, but bought a Haynes manual to reassemble fur quick reference to various specs. It is lacking for sure, but does point out some things I would have missed.

mscir

Thanks very much for posting that, it looks perfect for the job. Great photos too!

S14

I like to help others find better ways to work on their toys.
My civic was puking coolant out every couple of days. So I just started to attempt to fix it before the wife says get rid of it. Never really got this deep into Honda's it's always been Toyota and Nissan but in the end it's all nuts and bolts. Oh yeah I just fixed my water pump,replaced the belt and tensioner,and unfortunately had to ditch my timing belt lower and upper covers due to the last guy the owned it.

guitarsnlikker

in my opinion you can't go wrong with piercedasian and ratchets and wrenches 7th gen civic timing belt vids on you tube. Both those guys are very thorough.
the oem kit on amazon is what I got 109$ worth every penny. here it is.
dont forget to get the valve cover gasket as well.


good luck.

mscir

Thanks!

S14

It was the one of the easiest timing belts I have ever done aside from a Toyota Tercel lol!


Also i was having an issue with overheating again after the time belt water pump replacement and pulled the temp sensor connector and tested the wire jump bypass and found out the sensor was bad and caused overheating. If that might help someone down the road your welcome.

mikey1

uuummmm.....those parts are not OEM....not even close

Honda doesn't make a "kit", you need to buy all the parts seperately

mscir

Thanks to everybody who commented, got my car back together today, my first timing belt, it's running great. Really great forum, thanks!